Addressing the real problem

If your roof leaked, you could set out an army of pans and buckets all over the floor to catch the rivulets as they fell. That would work for a while.

Then when those containers started overflowing, you could empty them and watch them fill up again, over and over - empty and fill, empty and fill.

That would work for a while.

But as you went through the cycle you might notice the problem getting steadily worse, not better. You could scratch your head and curse the pans for not working the way they were supposed to. Or you could just fix the stinking roof.

So it goes with drugs and crime. Thankfully, local officials have had their eye on the real problem for a while now, and they're starting to see results.

Forty participants have graduated from drug treatment courts in Linn and Johnson counties since they were started in 2007 and 2008, respectively, according to Gazette reporter Trish Mehaffey, who caught up with several for her compelling article this week.

The courts offer an alternative to prison time for serious but non-violent adult offenders whose drug use is the root cause of their criminal acts.

The program is no picnic. Agreeing to enter drug treatment court means agreeing to follow your individualized treatment plan and the rules set out for you by the judge, treatment providers and probation officer.

Immediate sanctions can range from an early curfew to inpatient treatment or even jail time.

It takes most people longer than a year to graduate from the program. Many fail.

But a heartening number succeed. So far, 40 people, clean and sober, who not only have stayed out of our bulging prison system - they've gotten their lives back.

And there are so many more offenders who could benefit: According to the Iowa's Drug Policy Advisory Council, there were 880 people imprisoned on drug-related charges in Iowa in 2011, alone.

That doesn't include thousands more whose drug and alcohol abuse was a major factor in their criminal behavior or parole revocation.

The prison system isn't designed to provide those folks the kind of intensive treatment and community support they need to kick their habits. Nor should it be.

Because for all the work involved, drug treatment courts still cost pennies on the dollar compared with the cost of incarceration. The solution is clear.

So why keep carting off to prison our non-violent drug-related offenders, just to release them and then fill the cells again?

Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen@sourcemedia.net